 |
The shipyard has been affectionately known to local residents as the Uraga Dock for a century, and more than 10,000 crowded their way in to see the facilities during the festival. "We were very careful, and made detailed plans to ensure the safety of our visitors, but it was a very nerve-wracking day nonetheless. Nothing makes us happier than to be able to say that thousands of satisfied visitors came and went without incident." So shipyard General Manager Yuichi Tomita, his beaming face revealing yet another side of the men who have built mammoth tankers and even the sail training ship Nippon Maru.
The city of Yokosuka has developed into an important urban center, where automobile and electronics manufacturing have joined shipbuilding as major industries, and in 1997 the completion of a telecommunications research center atop the hills that run along the west side of Uraga has added yet another dimension. Built with the support of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and run jointly by public and private organizations, this center has become a gathering place for inquiring minds from NTT and other telecommunications leaders.
Hiromichi Kato, director of the Yokosuka's Uraga Administrative Center, ties it all together:
"Our mission is see that future generations can take inspiration from visionary predecessors like Saburosuke Nakajima." |
